


a fish a day (keeps the doctor at bay)

by nigoi



Series: in [feeling] with matsukaze tenma [3]
Category: Inazuma Eleven GO
Genre: Fishing, Gen, M/M, as in all my works, i cant believe i had to create the tag for this pairing, in fact, it's more platonic than romantic, this can read as platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22806112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nigoi/pseuds/nigoi
Summary: As always, Hamano spends his afternoon fishing.
Relationships: Hamano Kaiji & Matsukaze Tenma, Hamano Kaiji/Matsukaze Tenma
Series: in [feeling] with matsukaze tenma [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1172747
Kudos: 7





	a fish a day (keeps the doctor at bay)

The water was calm, Kaiji reflected, narrowing his eyes at the bait. Too calm. 

Then again, maybe New Years wasn’t the best time of the year to come fishing if one wanted a little activity. Even the old man, who had seen him pay his entry fee come rain or sun, had blinked and stumbled over his words when greeting him.

“Ha-Hamano-kun,” he had wheezed out, in that breathy voice of his. He probably had some lung problems from smoking that much. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

On New Years? Kaiji really, really didn’t. All his close friends were celebrating the holiday with their families, and his own family... 

Anyways. The bait wobbled lazily in the water. There were no fish silhouettes in sight. Had the old man forgotten to fill the pond again? Now, Kaiji knew he was getting old, but twice in the same week didn’t sound likely…

Yeah, maybe today just wasn’t his day.

At least, he was surrounded by serenity. There were no other clients around, and, even though the cold bit unforgivingly into his bare arms, Kaiji could appreciate only hearing the rumble of water and the rustly of the old man passing the pages of an old newspaper.

The bell hanging from the door tolled, indicating some other client had entered. Their steps slammed against the floor as if it was a drum, and Kaiji held back a sigh. Looked like the calm was over, huh.

“Hi, mister! How much is it?”

But… those were familiar steps, and that was a familiar voice. 

Kaiji turned around and found himself staring into wide silver eyes. Its owner was dark-skinned, swirly-haired…. Everyone’s favourite cheerful boy, standing here before his eyes, in the middle of giving a thousand-yen note to the old man.

“Hamano-senpai!” Tenma’s mouth curled into a wide grin and damn, that was a way to make a boy feel flattered. “You’re here!”

Kaiji wouldn’t be any less --- he grinned back at him. “That I am.”

The old man handed a battered fishing road to Tenma, a small smile blooming among his beard. Tenma took it, but he mustn’t have realised, because his gleaming eyes were still focused on Kaiji, analysing his very soul. (He squirmed.)

“You friends?” the old man asked warmly. 

...What a hard question to ask! The truth was, he hadn’t actually spoken to Tenma much one-on-one, so Kaiji couldn’t be sure about their relationship. What should he answer? Mmmmm... If he said yes and Tenma didn’t agree, things would get weird. But if he denied it and Tenma thought they were, things would get weird, too. What a dilemma.

“Yes.” That was Tenma. Heh. Kaiji should have guessed he thought like that. The kid probably considered even Senguuji his friend. Even so, it was a nice touch, saying it without any doubt. He did feel a little lighter.

When he looked uncertain, Kaiji patted the floor next to him. Tenma’s face lit up and he hurried to sit beside him, knees folded under his thick trousers like the polite kid he was. It was a stark contrast with Hamano, who was sprawled in his shorts.

They settled in to fish.

“Wow, what a nice spot!” Tenma said, five minutes into the silence. “There’s almost no cold!”

Of course it was a nice spot, it was strategically chosen to shield from the wind and get sun rays in places that didn’t interfere with his sight. Kaiji had had to learn trigonometry and angles to find it, and he was pretty proud of this particular feat.

Still, it was nice for his effort to get noticed. Hayami didn’t appreciate his effort enough. “Heh, thanks.” 

The silence settled again. Well, it wasn’t silence, because Kaiji was whistling his favourite tune and Tenma was tapping his foot to the rhythm. Soon, they were singing the lyrics --- but not too loud, so as not to scare the probably inexistent fish.

“In the land of the strong and true… I am here, just for you... ” Tap, tap. Tap-tap-tap. “And when you wonder where I am… I’ll be there, right at your side…” Tap-tap!

“Wow, we rocked it,” he said, whistling half-ironical, and added, “I didn’t know anyone else knew that song.” When Kaiji had whistled it with Hayami or with Aoyama and Ichino, they hadn’t batted an eye. Then again, Tenma was from Okinawa…

Apparently, Tenma was undergoing the same train of thought. “You’re from Okinawa too, Hamano-senpai?”

“Uh, no. My mother was. She… used to sing it to me,” he finished, quietly. He hoped he hadn’t been too obvious with that last comment. He didn’t really want a heart-to-heart with a boy he barely knew, on the first New Years he wasn’t at home.

Thankfully, Tenma gave no sign he noticed something amiss, and chattered on about his childhood in the perpetually sunny region, and about his nii-nii. Kaiji made the right noises in the right places, and told some jokes when the moment called for them, but otherwise, he let Tenma’s cheerful voice wash over him.

It was… nice, Kaiji reflected. He hadn’t noticed Tenma could be quiet and happy at the same time, or that he could use his mind to think about something other than football, but it wasn’t a bad discovery. It let Kaiji be quiet for once in his life, not have to be the mood-raiser all the time. 

...Tenma must understand how that felt; lately, he didn’t do much apart from cheering people up. Fifth Sector was killing their good - well, quote-unquote good moods, and Tenma had to lift them up as if they were a heavy load. And, as Kaiji knew from experience, they probably were. 

He wouldn’t say thank you, because Tenma did it ‘cause he wanted to, ‘cause he was that nice. But he would pull his weight a bit more.

“Hamano-senpai?” Tenma said, and it didn’t sound like this was the first time he asked. Whoops.

A nonchalant, “Yeah?”

“I was saying… why are you here, in New Years?” _Shouldn’t_ _you be with your family?_ went unasked, ‘cause the boy had that much tact.

Kaiji had been expecting the question, so he knew how to deflect. “What about you?” he said, projecting amusement, “I could ask the same question.”

“Oh.” Lips pursed, Tenma looked down. “I… don’t know. Why I’m here, I mean. I just wanted to be alone.” He blinked, and his solemn expression turned into panic. “Not that your presence isn’t welcome!”

“That’s good to hear.” Hamano grinned, although he wasn’t particularly feeling up to it.

They turned back to the water yet again. 

The bait hadn’t even moved.

Hmm…

He threw his head back and asked, loudly, “Hey, old man! Are there any fish in the pond?”

The old man, from where he was sitting in the other corner of the premises, cupped a hand around his ear. “ _What_?”

“Are there any fish in the pond?”

“WHAT?”

Kaiji took a deep breath. “I SAID---”

“I know, I know, I’m just messing with you, boy. I may be old, but I’m not deaf yet.” He chuckled, waving his hand, and Kaiji couldn’t help but smile too. This old man… “About the fish, well, I may have forgotten to add new fish---”

 _I knew it_. 

“---but,” he said, adopting storytelling-y voice, “there’s still one fish left, one nobody’s fished from a long, long time…”

“The Giant of the Pond,” Kaiji breathed out, eyes widening. He had heard about it --- how couldn’t he have, when he spent most of his free time with his ass resting atop this place --- but he thought they were just legends.

“What’s that?” Tenma intervened, squirming in his seat. Kaiji struggled not to jump --- he hadn’t forgotten that Tenma was here, not really, but… he had put it in the back of his mind. In the equivalent of the dirty basement you never went into because you didn’t want to die by dust asphyxiation, he meant.

“It’s a big fish,” the old man told him sagely, “that lives in this pond.”

Kaiji nodded, solemn. “A very big fish.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” Tenma’s eyes flickered to the water --- the too still water, considering a beast was rumbling under its surface. How big was the fish, anyways? And how deep was really the pond, to hold it? “Are we going to catch it?”

Stars filled Tenma’s eyes --- Kaiji would have looked away if he wasn’t accustomed to staring straight at the sun. He huffed a chuckled --- what a luck, to have such a cute kouhai. 

“Discovered a new passion for fishing, have we?” he teased.

Tenma shook his head, _hm-mn!_ noise included. “Actually! I used to fish with my mom when I was little.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes! I…” And he launched himself into a story about his childhood. Kaiji watched more than listened to him (not that he wasn’t listening. Tenma’s passion was very enrapturing. It just…). The way his hands flew around, his legs bounced on the ground, his lips curved around the words, as if hugging them…

Kaiji dragged his eyes from him and into the water. And promptly widened his eyes.

“The bait!” he said, pointing at the object in question. His hands tightened over the fishing rod in anticipation. “It’s sunk!”

Suddenly, something impossible strong started to tug. Kaiji gritted his teeth and held his own, but shit, his feet were skidding and if this kept going he would fulfill his yearly shower quota.

Tenma gasped and threw himself into Kaiji, arms surrounding his waist tightly. Kaiji refused to think about the way his heart skipped a beat, mostly because he didn’t have the time. (He wasn’t the kind of guy who avoided his feelings, no sir.) 

“Okay, Tenma,” he breathed through his teeth. “On the count of three, we pull. One… Two… Three!”

Tenma’s arms contracted abruptly, and Kaiji choked. Urgh, what powerful guns. Kaiji wouldn’t let the lack of air stop him, though. Now that his body was held back, he could tug with all his might, without worrying about falling into the water.

One tug. “HNGh!”

Two tugs. “ARGH!”

Three tugs. “AAAH!”

On the fourth tug, a monster shot out of the water. Hamano stood there, mouth hangin wide open, looking upwards at the behemoth of a fish they had just fished, flying above them like an enormous, orange dolphin.

It hit the ground with a loud PLOF!, and fell still after squirming uselesly for about fifteen seconds.

There was a silence. Nobody was moving, breathing, existing.

Until Kaiji let out a flat, “what the fuck is this.”

Tenma’s arms tightened and loosened around his waist in the span of one nanosecond. Oh, they were still there. Kaiji had been vaguely aware during all the commotion, but this sudden reminder had made him _really_ notice the heat pressing into his back, the soft breath tickling his nape---

Kaiji fought not to shiver. Being so close, Tenma would notice if he did.

His right hand fell atop Tenma’s. He didn’t know why he did that (was it to pull it away from him and end the moment?, or to keep it there?), but it didn’t matter, because the old man had left his spot and his newspaper and was approaching.

“Language, boy,” he chastised, and whistled. “That is one might fish, a'ight. I was pulling your leg earlier with the Giant of the Pond, but I’m glad it’s true! I can take a, whazzit called, a selfie with it and show everyone who told me it didn’t exist that they were spectacularly, humiliatingly wrong!” He boomed with laughter, and Kaiji’s lips twitched. “Anyways, good job, boys.”

His eyes lingered upon their close hands, and Tenma, clearly following his glance, removed them as if scalded, heat leaving his back and making Kaiji feel suddenly cold. He didn’t show it on his face, instead turning around and smiling at the boy.

(There was a mutter behind him, something about “hmph, these boys today should mind their manners!”. Then, steps, and then, no more.)

Tenma’s face was a shade of crimson Kaiji hadn’t ever seen in real life, just in those kinds of anime Hayami liked. He couldn’t inspect the expression, not much, because Tenma bowed so low his hair brushed the floor. “I’m - I’m sorry, Hamano-senpai!” 

“Eh.” He tapped one foot on the ground. Tapped it again. “Don’t worry too much about it.”

Tenma straightened up and nodded, lips pursed and eyes averted, cheeks red. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, quietly.

“It’s _nothing_ ,” Kaiji stressed, and turned back to their dead fish. “Now, let’s go to the important thing --- what do we do with this?”

“Er…” Tenma’s sneakers squeaked as he approached. He kept a respectful distance though, and… Yeah, not cool. “Well, my grandma knows someone who knows someone who has a fishery. We could give it to him.”

“Yeah, we could do that,” Kaiji mused, inspecting the fish. It was bigger than both of them combined. How could a fish like this exist in a pond where the owner forgot to put fish in? Was it a mutation? A fusion? And most importantly --- how much of that fish would remain after removing the bones? 

“Do you have something else in mind?”

“Actually,” he said, glancing at Tenma out from the corner of his eyes. His round brilliant eyes were looking at him with uncomfy, undeterred interest. Kaiji glanced away and cleared his throat. “We could just eat it.”

“Eat it?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Eat it. Got any problem?” he said lightly, smiling to make it sound less aggressive. Kaiji just liked how badass _got it_ and similars sounded, but it wouldn’t be the first time he got into trouble for using it.

“Uh? Ah, er, no, no! That’s a great idea! It’s just...” He trailed off, looking away.

“Yes?” 

He mumbled something.

Kaiji cupped a hand around his ear. “I didn’t catch that.”

“I... don’t know how to cook.” His cheeks, yet again, flushed, though nothing compared to the blood rush apocalypse from before. This was like a drop of blood too much. “Aki-nee has tried to teach me… Aoi has tried too… But I always end up burning everything.”

Kaiji blinked. Okay… “That’s not a problem. I’ll cook and that’s it.”

Tenma waved his hands in front of his face. Kaiji had seen him doing it thousands of times in the time he had known him, but it was still as cute as the first time. “But - I couldn’t impose!”

“You’re… not imposing. I like to cook.” 

Tenma looked away. His feet shifted positions. His hands hid behind his back. The red of his cheeks didn’t relent.

This boy… “I mean it,” he said firmly. “You’re not a bother, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Silver eyes hesitantly flickered to him. “If you’re sure…”

Kaiji held back the urge to sigh, because Tenma would have probably misinterpreted it for annoyance, with this apparent insecurity (sigh). Instead, he grinned. “I am. C’mon, let’s go to my house.”

He wasn’t even a step in towards the exit of the area before Tenma called out, “Wait!” He glanced at him, and Tenma took that as a cue to keep going. “Aren’t we forgetting… something?”

The fish. Right. 

“Right,” he echoed. He had already noticed this but now the fact was louder than ever: the fish was bigger than the two of them combined. And they didn’t have any means of transportation to carry it, except walking. Kaiji grimaced. “Right.” Shit.

“I’ll carry it!” Tenma said quickly and, without waiting for his input, he hurried towards the fish and picked it up with an adorable “hmph!”

He was hugging the monster in question, so Kaiji couldn’t see his face. WIld brown hair stuck from around the edges of the fish’ body, and it was the cutest thing he’d ever laid his eyes into. (Well, no, that was when he saw Tenma sneeze for the first time, but. He was caught up in the moment.)

Fish firmly held, Tenma took a step forward. 

And another. 

Annnnnnnd - another. 

When he was about to collide with a fence, Kaiji said, “Are you sure you want to do that on your own?”

“Yes!” he got out, took another step forward and CRASH! with the fence. Butt on the floor, Tenma mumbled, “Ouch.”

Kaiji bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “Are you sure about that? Sure sure? ‘Cause you don’t look too sure.”

“I’m sure!” With that, he got up, still hugging the fish. What a stubborn kid. Then again, that was kind of his main point in attractiveness. After the smile, of course. The smile was on a whole other level.

Shaking his head, amused, Kaiji approached the boy and set a hand on his shoulder. Tenma tensed and relaxed in less than a second --- Kaiji felt the shivers run along his body more than saw them. “H-huh?” he stammered out. 

“You can’t see. You don’t know where my house is. _And_ you won’t let me help you carry the fish.” He shrugged, fingers brushing Tenma’s collar. “There’s no other solution.”

“Oh,” said Tenma. Squeaked. “Okay. I --- Okay.”

Kaiji’s hold on his shoulder tightened, but not too much (he wanted Tenma to escape if he really felt uncomfortable). Slowly, matching Tenma’s rhythm, he took a step forward. And another. Annnnnnnd - another. And with the fourth, they set foot outside the pond (after bidding goodbye to the old man, of course, because they had manners) and towards his empty house and his empty kitchen.

Which wouldn’t be empty. At least, not for the moment.


End file.
